Mass. woman kills self before home foreclosure
TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - July 23, 2008 Police said that Carlene Balderrama used her husband's
high-powered rifle to kill herself Tuesday afternoon, shortly after
faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m.
The mortgage company called police, who found Balderrama's body
at 3:30 p.m. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and
interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35
miles south of Boston, while Balderrama's body was still inside,
according to Taunton police chief Raymond O'Berg.
Police did not immediately release the name of the mortgage
company. O'Berg said Balderrama's fax read, in part, "By the time
you foreclose on my house I'll be dead."
O'Berg also said a suicide note found next to Balderrama told
her husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the (life)
insurance money and pay for the house."
"I had no clue," said John Balderrama explaining that his wife
handled all the couple's finances. "I'm just lost. I tell you I'm
beside myself."
He said Carlene had been intercepting letters from the mortgage
company and shredding them without his knowledge. He had no idea
she hadn't paid the mortgage in 42 months.
"She put in her suicide note that it got overwhelming for
her," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday.
"Apparently she didn't have anyone to talk to. She didn't come to
me. I don't know why."
John Balderrama filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times from
2004 to 2006, but the courts dismissed the petitions. Debtors who
declare bankruptcy under Chapter 13 generally can keep their homes
while paying off their debts under a court-approved reorganization
plan.
